Mdina, Malta: One Of The Most Gorgeous Cities I Have Ever Visited.

Mdina, Malta is a walled, hilltop town on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean, which stood as the capital of Malta until the Medieval period. Mdina is commonly known as the “Silent City,” its a UNESCO site, and Mdina is a hugely popular tourist destination in Malta. More importantly, its also Kings Landing from the first season of Game of Thrones!!!!

IMG_5674

Mdina or Kings Landing?

I found Mdina to be totally gorgeous and quite reminiscent of small Dubrovnik, Croatia, without the hoards of tourists (makes sense why Mdina and Dubrovnik were the 2 sites of Kings Landing in GoT!). We spent about 3 hours in Mdina, walking around, taking a lot of pictures, buying some Mdina Glass, and having a drink at the Fontanella Tea Garden, a quite famous restaurant in Mdina. For visitors, I recommend spending about 3 – 4 hours here just walking around and seeing the city, less if you are not planning to have a meal. If you have kids, there are some campy activities for kids relating to the Knights of Malta, but we skipped all of these. Since Mdina is really gorgeous, I am just sharing my favorite pictures, with a list of our favorite things to do in Mdina at the end! Also, if you are looking for Instagrammable doors and balconies, Mdina is definitely for you!

IMG_5707

Favorite door in Mdina. Certainly Instagrammable.

IMG_5638

Entrance gate. Also, filming location from Game of Thrones!

IMG_5640

Inside Mdina.

IMG_5643

Gorgeous buildings just inside the main gates.

IMG_5650

Tiny, old streets.

IMG_5660

Little Finger’s Pleasure House.

IMG_5661

Reminds me so much of Dubrovnik!

IMG_5666

British phone booths everywhere.

IMG_5667

Gorgeous churches.

IMG_5670

Pink and purple!

IMG_5671

Love.

IMG_5730

Adored the flowers.

IMG_5691

More winding streets with gorgeous flowers.

IMG_5735

Lunch view from La Fontanella Tea Garden.

IMG_5719

More flowers and balconies.

If you are visiting Mdina, our favorite things of our trip were:

  • Finding Game of Thrones filming locations (search online, there are many posts on this)!
  • Mdina Glass Factory (just inside the main gate), they have great stuff! I came home with two gorgeous Mdina glass pitchers.
  • Food and views at the Fontanella Tea Garden.
  • Simply walking around town.
  • Photographing the famous Malta balconies and doors

If you are looking to pair another site with Mdina, the Meridiana Wine Estate is quite close. We did a tasting at Meridiana and it was quite good. Email the winery directly to set up a tasting in advance (no walk-ins). A walk around Mdina followed by a wine tasting at Meridiana would make for a great day!

IMG_5078.jpeg

Dan at Meridiana.

IMG_5093.jpeg

Wine tasting at Meridiana.

STEAL OUR TRIP

Mdina: Maltese official website on Mdina.

Transportation: We arrived to Mdina via Bolt service (Maltese version of Uber; ECabs is a similar app) from St. Julian’s. On the way back, our phones did not have good service so we took a taxi, which generally line up outside the main gate. If you drive, there is a parking lot outside of the main gate. Public buses also run to Mdina.

Mdina Glass Factory: Just inside the main gate. The shop will hold your purchases in shop so you don’t have to carry them around the city. Generally open 9:30 – 17:30, later in the summer (until 22:00 in July and August). There are several of these stores around Malta. 

Fontanella Tea Garden: Open daily 10:00 – 23:30. A classic Mdina stop for views, food, drinks, or one of its tasty cakes! Reservations not required. No AC. 

Game of Thrones sites: Google this before visiting; there are several blogs disclosing all of the filming locations in Mdina. There are also some filming locations in the next door town of Rabat.

Meridiana Wine Estate: ATD 4000, Malta. Closed Saturday and Sunday. Use the “Book A Tour” feature on the bottom of their website to inquire about a tour/tasting, which are usually held during the week between 10:00 and 15:00. Our tasting was 12 euro/person for 4 wines and some crackers. I recommend upgrading to their full tray of snacks, which costs a bit more but is enough for lunch.

IMG_5750

Cakes at La Fontanella.

 

 

One thought on “Mdina, Malta: One Of The Most Gorgeous Cities I Have Ever Visited.

Leave a Reply